The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, on Monday, April 26, commented on the announcement of the Russian diplomat persona non grata in Romania.
“Ambassador of Romania to Russia [Кристиан Истрате] is very familiar with the response procedure, ”she said.
In turn, Russian Ambassador to Romania Valery Kuzmin, in a conversation with TASS, pointed out that Russia regards the announcement of the Russian diplomat as persona non grata as an unfriendly step and reserves the right to “take appropriate retaliatory measures.”
In addition, he added that representatives of the Romanian Foreign Ministry in discussions with the Russian side carefully avoided commenting on their decision.
Earlier that day, it became known that the Romanian authorities had decided to declare the assistant to the military attaché of Russia persona non grata. It was argued that the activities and actions of the diplomat were contrary to the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that this decision was communicated to the Russian side.
On April 15, the Polish Foreign Ministry reported that three Russian diplomats had been declared persona non grata in the country. The basis for this decision was the violation by Russian diplomats of the “conditions of diplomatic status” and the fact that the diplomats “acted to the detriment of the republic.” In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of five Polish diplomats from the country.
On April 17, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis announced that the country’s authorities suspect the Russian special services of involvement in the explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica in 2014. On the same day, the Czech Republic announced its decision to expel 18 Russian diplomats. Russia responded by declaring 20 employees of the Czech embassy in Moscow persona non grata a day later.
Also, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia announced the expulsion of employees of the Russian embassies as a measure of solidarity with the Czech Republic.